Method and system for location-dependent billing for services

ABSTRACT

A method for location-dependent billing for a service available to a user with a mobile terminal having an identification module. Via a wireless interface of the identification module, a local communication connection is set up to at least one external location tag with a corresponding wireless interface. The method includes determining a location identification through evaluation of data of the at least one external location tag; and selecting a billing rate for billing for the service available to the user based on the determined location of the at least on external location tag.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure contains subject matter related to EuropeanPatent Application 06101355.5, filed Feb. 6, 2006, the entire contentsof which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and a system forlocation-dependent billing of services. The invention relates inparticular to the location-dependent billing for a service availed of bya user by means of a mobile terminal including an identification module.

2. Discussion of the Background

There are many different methods in the state of the art for the billingof calls, i.e. for debiting a monetary amount for a call of the customercarried out. Calls may be billed based on duration and destinationnumber, for instance. Thus calls to foreign countries during businesshours may be billed at a higher fee than calls within a city networkoutside of business hours, for example. Such billing models may besupported by offer concept and demand for services. The billing of callsmay also be based on a flat-rate fee, so that a call is always billed atthe same price. A flat-rate fee can bring savings during operation ofthe technical installations necessary for the billing. Implementation ofa location-dependent billing of calls for mobile telephones is alsoknown in the state of the art, in particular during a change of locationbetween different network operators (roaming). Network operators ofmobile radio networks would also like to apply fee structures by meansof which fixed network telephony may be competed with directly, forexample. To this end, the network operator of a mobile radio networkwould use an appropriate fee for the billing corresponding to thecurrent location of the mobile telephone. The current location maythereby relate to the place of residence of the user, to the means oftransportation of the user, such as a train, or to the location in anoffice building. For the location at the place of residence of the user,the network operator of the mobile radio network would apply a feestructure for private telephone connections that competes with the feestructure of the network operator of a fixed telephone network.Correspondingly, the network operator of the mobile radio network wouldapply a fee for the billing of calls for a mobile location such as, forexample, in a train or on the street, or for a location in an officebuilding by means of which the respective network operator would be ableto compete directly at these locations.

Described in the international application WO 99/05875 (Siemens AG) is amethod for the billing of calls. Zones are defined for a subscriberthrough a combination of radio cells and/or areas of location. Suchzones can relate to a home zone, a city zone or an office zone. A zonetariff is assigned to a zone, and a billing device is informed about thezones defined for the subscriber, which are used for determining thecall fee when the subscriber is located in one of the zones.

Described in European patent application EP 0 939 570 (Siemens AG) is amethod for location-dependent billing of connections between mobilesubscribers. With a connection of a mobile subscriber, locationinformation is determined for the radio technical installation inconnection with the mobile subscriber, and a home local area rate isbilled if the location information pertains to a home range for thesubscriber.

A drawback of this method is that such ranges or such local informationmay be determined with too little precision for many applications, orthe current location of a user may be established in an insufficientlyexact way. Also a disadvantage of this method is that the technicalimplementation is too costly.

Described in the patent application US 2003/0054836 is a method of timerecording of a person in motion. By means of a reading device, data isread by a transponder, and is transmitted to a mobile telephone. Bymeans of the mobile telephone, the data is transmitted to a controlcenter, time information being stored in the control center.

Described in the international application WO 98/58509 is a chipcard forGSM cellular telephones. The chipcard comprises storage means forstoring identification data for a subscriber as well as electricalcontacts for connection of the chipcard to a mobile communicationstation. The chipcard contains at least one coil that enables thesetting up of communication between the chipcard and a communicationstation located outside the external device.

Described in the international application WO 2004/054304 is a methodfor anonymous tracking of the position of a portable device in awireless infrastructure. By means of the wireless stations, a uniqueidentifier of a device is registered, for instance via the ZigBeeprotocol. The identifier is stored in a database via a backbone of thewireless infrastructure together with a piece of time information, sothat the last interaction of the device with a station may be checked.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to propose a new method and anew system for location-dependent billing of a service availed of by auser with a mobile terminal comprising an identification module, whichmethod and which system do not have the drawbacks of the state of theart.

These objects are achieved according to the present invention inparticular through the elements of the independent claims. Furtheradvantageous embodiments follow moreover from the dependent claims andfrom the description.

In particular, these objects are achieved by the invention in that alocal communication connection to at least one external location tagwith a corresponding wireless interface is established via a wirelessinterface of the identification module of the mobile terminal, alocation identification is determined through an evaluation of data ofthe at least one external location tag, and, in a billing unit forbilling of services, a billing rate assigned to the locationidentification is selected. The billing rate can thereby be determinedbased on any method, or the billing rate can be selected from a definedquantity. Such a method has the advantage in particular that the billingrate applied may be adapted very precisely to the current location ofthe mobile terminal. The location identification can thereby relate to azone, such as, for instance, a private apartment, the compartment in atrain, an office in an office building, a restaurant, an advertisingposter or a hotspot of a wireless network. The location identificationcan also relate to geographic coordinates or a geographic distance toservices or telecommunications installations of third parties.

In an embodiment variant, the local communication connection is set upvia an interface based on the ZigBee standard, based on the Bluetoothstandard or based on an NFC standard (NFC: Near Field Communication).Such a local communication connection can be set up such that inparticular no mobile radio network is availed of. Such a method has inparticular the advantage that tried and tested technologies may be usedfor establishing local communication connections.

In another embodiment variant, data is transmitted, by means of theidentification module, to a central unit of a mobile communicationnetwork in which the mobile terminal is logged, the data of the localtag being evaluated by the central unit, and in accordance with thisevaluation a billing rate being selected in the billing unit of themobile communication network. The billing rate may thereby be determinedor selected from a definable number of billing rates, for instance froma table with billing rates. Such an embodiment variant has in particularthe advantage that data of the location tag can be transmitted to acentral unit via means confidential to the operator of the mobilecommunication network, and may be evaluated by this central unit usingmeans confidential to the operator of the mobile communication network.

In a further embodiment variant, the data of the location tag aredecrypted by the central unit by means of an electronic key stored inthe central unit. Such a method has in particular the advantage thatdata can be stored on the location tag in an encrypted way, so that, forexample, data of the location tag can be accessed using just one key ofthe network operator of the mobile communication network, and thus thesedata are not visible to third parties, nor able to be falsified by thirdparties.

In another embodiment variant, the communication connection isestablished to a location tag secured using security means. The securitymeans can relate, for example, to mechanical means for secureinstallation of the location tag at a definable place in a room, forinstance on a personal computer or at an electrical outlet. Such amethod has in particular the advantage that it is ensured for thenetwork operators of the mobile communication network that a locationtag cannot be removed by unauthorized persons, nor the location of thelocation tag changed by unauthorized persons.

In an embodiment variant, the location tag is connected to acommunication channel. The communication channel can relate, forexample, to a communication channel of a fixed telephone network, to acommunication channel based on PLC (PLC: Power Line Communications), toa communication channel of a television cable network or to any othercommunication channel. The location tag can thus be coupled with acommunication channel, it being thus possible, for instance, to checkvia the communication channel, whether the location tag is correctlyplaced, or it being possible for data to be loaded on the location tagvia the communication channel. Such a method has in particular theadvantage that it can be ensured that a location tag is not able to bemanipulated or removed by unauthorized third parties.

In another embodiment variant, ascertained by the central unit is viawhich base station the mobile terminal is logged into the mobilecommunication network, data of the identified base station beingcompared with data of the location tag. Such a method has in particularthe advantage that the operator of the mobile communication network isable to carry out an additional check of the current location of amobile terminal using existing means, and thus the plausibility of thelocation established through data of the location tag can beascertained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiment variants of the present invention will be described in thefollowing with reference to examples. The examples of the embodimentsare illustrated by the following attached figure:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a method and system according to theinvention for location-dependent billing of services availed of by auser having a mobile terminal with an identification module.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 refers to a mobile terminal and thereference numeral 50 to a base station of a mobile communicationnetwork. The mobile terminal can be a mobile telephone, a PDA (PDA:Personal Digital Assistant), a portable computer such as a laptop, aplay station or any other mobile terminal. The mobile communicationnetwork can be configured according to any standard. Thus, for example,the mobile communication network can relate, for instance, to a GSM(GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications) network, a UMTS (UMTS:Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) network, or a WLAN (WLAN:Wireless Local Area Network) network. The mobile terminal 1 refers to adevice corresponding to the mobile communication network, i.e. to amobile terminal, for instance, which is connectible to the mobilecommunication network according to the GSM standard, according to theUMTS standard or according to the WLAN standard, via an air interface,for example. The mobile terminal 1 comprises an identification module 2.The identification module 2 can be designed as an identification card,known to one skilled in the art, such as an SIM card (SIM: SubscriberIdentity Module) or according to any other standard. The identificationmodule 2 can be separated and removed from the mobile terminal 1. Theidentification module 2 can also be integrated in the mobile terminal 1,however, so that the identification module is connected in a fixed wayto the mobile terminal fest, and cannot be removed. By means of datastored on the identification module 2, the mobile terminal is loggedinto the communication network via the base station 50,telecommunication connections being able to be set up to or from themobile terminal, for example. Besides the base station 50, an MSC (MSC:Mobile Switching Center) of the mobile communication network has beendrawn in FIG. 1. It is clear to one skilled in the art, however, that amobile communication network comprises many additional devices, such as,for example, an HLR (HLR: Home Location Register), a VLR (VLR: VisitingLocation Register) or an AUC (AUC: Authentication Center), or anyregisters or devices. In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 52 refers to atelecommunication network of a first provider. The telecommunicationnetwork 52 can comprise networks of different technologies. Thus thetelecommunication network 52 can comprise in particular a mobilecommunication network and a fixed network. Of course the mobilecommunication network also comprises a billing unit 53 for billingtelecommunication connections of the mobile terminal 1. In FIG. 1, thebilling unit 53 is connected to the MSC. It plays no role, how thebilling unit 53 is connected to the network devices of the communicationnetwork. Thus the billing unit is also connected to a HLR or an AUC ofthe mobile communication network, or the billing unit 53 can also bedisposed outside the mobile communication network. By means of thebilling unit 53, telecommunication connections can be billed accordingto various parameters, such as, for instance, the duration of thetelecommunication connection or the origin or respectively destinationof the telecommunication connection. For this purpose, the billing unit53 comprises, for example, means of assigning to a captured parameter ofa telecommunication connection a monetary amount based on a billingrate, and of debiting this monetary amount against an account of thesubscriber. Parameters of telecommunication connections can be capturedby any device, such as, for instance, an MSC (MSC: Mobile SwitchingCenter), and transmitted to the billing unit 53. The billing rate can bestored in tables of the billing unit 53, a monetary amount beingassigned to a duration of a telecommunication connection by means ofsuch tables.

Besides telecommunication connections of the mobile terminal 1, furtherservices can be availed of by the user. Thus a user can avail of a SMSservice (SMS: Short Message Service), with which SMS service the latestweather reports or stock market reports can be transmitted on the mobileterminal 1 to the user. Or the user can avail of a television service,the television news being transmitted to the user on the mobile terminal1, for example. Or, using the mobile terminal 1, the user can makepurchases via a web portal, such as orders for books or orders for food.Or the user can pay for use of a service using the credit card in ashop. Such services are debited to the user via corresponding billingdevices. Thus a billing device can refer to a device for billing SMSmessages, for transmitting MMS messages (MMS: Multimedia MessageService), for transmitting television clips or television news, fordelivery of books or foods, for billing of an amount on a credit cardaccount or to the billing of any other services.

In FIG. 1, the reference numerals 30, 31 refer to location tags. Asshown schematically in FIG. 1, the location tag 30 can be put on thewall, for example, next to the entrance door of an office used forbusiness. The location tag 31 can be put next to the fireplace of aprivately used apartment. The location tags 30, 31 can be put anywhere,however. Data can be stored on the location tags 30, 31, which data aretransmittable via wireless interfaces of the identification modules 2 aswell as wireless interfaces of the location tags 30, 31. Thetransmission of the data can take place, for instance, based on theZigBee standard or based on the Bluetooth standard. The data stored onthe location tags can comprise a rate code, for example, an encryptedrate code or the geographic coordinates of a location.

In FIG. 1, the reference numerals 40, 41 refer to terminals of atelecommunication network 42 of a second provider. The telecommunicationnetwork 42 can be configured according to any technology, thus e.g.based on a standard for mobile telecommunication networks or based on astandard for fixed networks. In FIG. 1, the telecommunication network 42refers to a fixed network with terminals 40, 41 installed in a fixedway. The terminal 40 can be installed, for example, in the mentionedoffice used for business purposes. The terminal 41 can be installed inthe mentioned privately used apartment, for example. Of course theterminal 40 and the terminal 41 can be connected via separatetelecommunication networks of different operators. Connections that areset up using the terminal 40 or the terminal 41, are billed by a billingunit of the telecommunication network according to a billing rate. Thusfor a terminal 40, which is installed in an office used for business, adifferent rate can be applied, for example a more expensive rate, thanfor a terminal 41, which is installed in a privately used apartment. Ofcourse such different billing rates vis-à-vis the customer can bejustified by corresponding differences in the service quality.

As shown in FIG. 1, the telecommunication network 52 and thetelecommunication network 42 are connected together, so thattelecommunication connections may be established between the mobileterminal 1 and the terminal 60 as well as between the terminals 40, 41and the terminal 60. Corresponding gateway devices are used forconnecting the telecommunication networks 52, 42.

The identification module 2 can now be set up such that it is possibleat definable points in time to check whether a local connection to alocation tag can be set up via the wireless interface of theidentification module 2. Thus, through the identification module 2, arequest for transmission of data of a location tag may be transmitted atdefinable points in time, for example. Such a request can be based, forexample, on a ZigBee standard or a Bluetooth standard, and can comprise,for instance, an identification or an encrypted identification. Such anidentification or encrypted identification can be evaluated bycorrespondingly configured location tags. However, such anidentification or encrypted identification cannot be sensibly evaluatedby other devices despite a corresponding wireless interface. After theidentification is evaluated by the location tag, data from the locationtag are transmitted to the identification module 2, for instance. Such atransmission can be triggered by the location tag or by the transmissionof a further request from the identification module 2 to the locationtag. The data transmitted from the location tag to the identificationmodule 2 may comprise a rate code, an encrypted rate code or geographiccoordinates, for example.

The mobile terminal 1 is logged into the mobile communication networkvia the base station 50. Various generally known methods are used forlogging in the mobile terminal 1. Following such methods, anauthentication is thus carried out. The operator of the mobilecommunication network can thus in particular assign the mobile terminalto an authorized subscriber. In addition, a secured communicationconnection can be set up between the identification module 2 and anydevice of the mobile communication network.

Thus the data of the location tag can be transmitted via a secureconnection of the identification module 2 to any device of the mobiletelecommunication network, thus to the billing unit 53, for example. Asmentioned, the data of the location tag 30 can comprise an encryptedrate code, for example. Stored on the billing unit 53 can be thecorresponding electronic key for decryption of the encrypted rate code.After decryption of the encrypted rate code, a billing rate, assigned tothe rate code, can be determined on the billing unit, or be selectedfrom a definable number, for example from a table. Of course the billingrate can be selected such that a telephone apparatus of a secondoperator of a telecommunication network installed in the vicinity of thelocation tag can be competed with. The billing rate can also bedetermined according to any algorithm. Thus the data of the location tagcan relate to geographic coordinates, a probability according to which acompetitor is offering telecommunication services at this location beingdetermined by means of an algorithm, the billing rate being determinedaccording to this probability or being selected for the billing.

According to the invention, services availed of by a user are billedaccording to a billing rate that is selected based on the currentlocation of the user. Thus a location tag can be installed on anadvertising poster, an access address being printed on the advertisingposter for the ordering of the product or service being advertised onthe advertising poster. Upon ordering the product using the accessaddress, a monetary amount can be debited to the user by means of abilling device, the user profiting from an especially inexpensivebilling rate, for instance, because he is situated at the location ofthe advertising poster. A location tag can also be installed at a busstop. To make use of the waiting time at the bus stop, the user canrequest the transmission from a service provider of the latesttelevision news, for instance. Depending upon price policy of theservice provider, such a transmission can now take place according to aselectable billing rate, the data stored on the location tag being takeninto consideration in selecting the billing rate.

The location tags 30,31 can be secured using security means. Suchsecurity means can relate to mechanical means such as a lockable lock.These security means can also relate to electronic means. Thus alocation tag can also be configured as USB (USB: Universal Serial Bus)stick, an identification of the computer being checked upon installationof the USB stick, and the described functions of the location tag beingenabled only with a successful checking of this identification.

The wireless interface of the identification module 2 can be configuredbased on different embodiment variants. Thus the identification module 2can be designed as common SIM card, for instance, all components of thewireless interface being installed on the SIM card, such as encoder,modulator, decoder, antenna, driver, etc., i.e. all components that arenecessary in order to operate the wireless interface according to aZigBee standard, for instance. Depending upon the application, the SIMcard and the wireless interface can also be designed such thatcomponents of the wireless interface, such as the antenna, for instance,are installed on the housing of the mobile terminal. Of course furtherembodiment variants are known to one skilled in the art for installingan identification module 2 according to the invention on a mobileterminal, and for installing a wireless interface on the identificationmodule 2.

1. A method for location-dependent billing for a service being availableto a user with a mobile terminal having an identification module,wherein, via a wireless interface of the identification module, a localcommunication connection is set up to a fixably installed externallocation tag including a billing rate code with a corresponding wirelessinterface, the method comprising: accessing the external location tagand transmitting the billing rate code from the external location tag tothe mobile terminal; forwarding the billing rate code from the mobileterminal to a central unit of a mobile communication network, in whichthe mobile terminal is logged; determining a geographic locationidentification of the external location tag by evaluation of saidbilling rate code of the external location tag at the central unit; andselecting a billing rate for billing for the service available to theuser based on the billing rate code of the external location tag at thecentral unit; and decrypting the billing rate code of the externallocation tag by the central unit based on an electronic key stored inthe central unit.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the localcommunication connection is set up via an interface based on the ZigBeestandard, the Bluetooth standard or a Near Field Communication (NFC)standard.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:selecting a billing rate in accordance with a result of the evaluatingin a billing unit at the central unit of the mobile communicationnetwork.
 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:providing the local communication connection to the external locationtag secured through security means.
 5. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: connecting the external location tag to acommunication channel.
 6. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: determining by the central unit via which base station themobile terminal is logged into the mobile communication network; andcomparing data of the determined base station with the billing rate codeof the external location tag.
 7. A system for location-dependent billingof a service, the system including a mobile terminal including anidentification module; a fixably installed external location tagincluding billing rate code and a first wireless interface; and acentral unit in communication with the mobile terminal, wherein theidentification module includes a second wireless interface for localcommunication connection to the external location tag via the firstwireless interface, and the identification module is configured toaccess the external location tag and to receive the billing rate codefrom the external location tag; the mobile terminal configured toforward the billing rate code from the mobile terminal to a central unitof a mobile communication network, in which the mobile terminal islogged; the central unit is configured to determine a geographiclocation identification of the external location tag based on thereceived billing rate code; and the central unit is further configuredto bill for the service available to the user in accordance with abilling rate assigned to the billing rate code at a billing unit and todecrypt the billing rate code of the external location tag based on anelectronic key stored in the central unit.
 8. The system according toclaim 7, wherein the wireless interface of the identification module isimplemented according to the ZigBee standard, the Bluetooth standard ora Near Field Communication (NFC) standard.
 9. The system according toclaim 7, wherein in accordance with an evaluation of the billing ratecode, a billing rate is selected in the billing unit of the centralunit.
 10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the external locationtag comprises security means for securing the external location tag. 11.The system according to claim 7, wherein the external location tag isconfigured to be connected to a communication channel.
 12. The systemaccording to claim 7, wherein the central unit is configured todetermine via which base station the mobile terminal is logged into themobile communication network, and to compare data of the determined basestation to the billing rate code of the external location tag.
 13. Acentral unit of a mobile communication network, for location-dependentbilling of a communication service, the central unit in communicationwith a mobile terminal that is logged on the mobile communicationnetwork, the mobile terminal including an identification module; and themobile terminal being in wireless communication with a fixably installedexternal location tag, the external location tag including billing ratecode, the identification module includes a first wireless interface forlocal communication connection to the external location tag via a secondwireless interface, and the identification module is configured toaccess the external location tag and to receive the billing rate codefrom the external location tag, wherein the central unit is configuredto receive the billing rate code from the external location tag via themobile terminal, via the local communication connection and the mobilecommunication network; the central unit is configured to determine ageographic location identification of the external location tag based onthe billing rate code; and the central unit is further configured tobill for the service available to the user in accordance with a billingrate assigned to the billing rate code at a billing unit and to decryptthe billing rate code of the external location tag based on anelectronic key stored in the central unit.
 14. The central unitaccording to claim 13, wherein the wireless interface of theidentification module is implemented according to the ZigBee standard,the Bluetooth standard or a Near Field Communication (NFC) standard. 15.The central unit according to claim 13, wherein in accordance with anevaluation of the billing rate code, a billing rate is selected in thebilling unit of the central unit.
 16. The central unit according toclaim 13, wherein the external location tag includes security means forsecuring the external location tag.
 17. The central unit according toclaim 13, wherein the external location tag is configured to beconnected to a communication channel.
 18. The central unit according toclaim 13, wherein the central unit is further configured to determinevia which base station the mobile terminal is logged into the mobilecommunication network, and to compare data of the determined basestation to the billing rate code of the external location tag.